scholarly journals Novel Strategy for Improvement of the Bioleaching Efficiency of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Based on the AfeI/R Quorum Sensing System

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue-Yan Gao ◽  
Xiu-Jie Liu ◽  
Chang-Ai Fu ◽  
Xiu-Feng Gu ◽  
Jian-Qiang Lin ◽  
...  

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is an acidophilic and chemolithotrophic sulfur- and iron-oxidizing bacterium that has been widely used in the bioleaching process for extracting metals. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are essential for bacteria-ore interactions, and the regulation of EPS synthesis could be an important way of influencing the efficiency of the bioleaching process. Therefore, exploring and utilizing the regulatory pathways of EPS synthesis to improve the bacterial bioleaching capability have posed a challenge in the study and application of bioleaching bacteria. Here, several engineering strains were constructed using genetic manipulation methods. And we revealed the regulatory function of the AfeI/R quorum sensing (QS) system in EPS synthesis and biofilm formation of A. ferrooxidans, and the AfeI/R-mediated EPS synthesis could influence bacteria-substrate interactions and the efficiency of bioleaching. Finally, an AfeI/R-mediated bioleaching model was proposed to illustrate the role of QS system in this process. This study provided new insights into and clues for developing highly efficient bioleaching bacteria and modulating the bioleaching process.

2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 4050-4060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge E. Vidal ◽  
Herbert P. Ludewick ◽  
Rebekah M. Kunkel ◽  
Dorothea Zähner ◽  
Keith P. Klugman

ABSTRACTStreptococcus pneumoniaeis the leading cause of death in children worldwide and forms highly organized biofilms in the nasopharynx, lungs, and middle ear mucosa. TheluxS-controlled quorum-sensing (QS) system has recently been implicated in virulence and persistence in the nasopharynx, but its role in biofilms has not been studied. Here we show that this QS system plays a major role in the control ofS. pneumoniaebiofilm formation. Our results demonstrate that theluxSgene is contained by invasive isolates and normal-flora strains in a region that contains genes involved in division and cell wall biosynthesis. TheluxSgene was maximally transcribed, as a monocistronic message, in the early mid-log phase of growth, and this coincides with the appearance of early biofilms. Demonstrating the role of the LuxS system in regulatingS. pneumoniaebiofilms, at 24 h postinoculation, two different D39ΔluxSmutants produced ∼80% less biofilm biomass than wild-type (WT) strain D39 did. Complementation of these strains withluxS, either in a plasmid or integrated as a single copy in the genome, restored their biofilm level to that of the WT. Moreover, a soluble factor secreted by WT strain D39 or purified AI-2 restored the biofilm phenotype of D39ΔluxS. Our results also demonstrate that during the early mid-log phase of growth, LuxS regulates the transcript levels oflytA, which encodes an autolysin previously implicated in biofilms, and also the transcript levels ofply, which encodes the pneumococcal pneumolysin. In conclusion, theluxS-controlled QS system is a key regulator of early biofilm formation byS. pneumoniaestrain D39.


2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (11) ◽  
pp. 7033-7040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Farah ◽  
Mario Vera ◽  
Danièle Morin ◽  
Dominique Haras ◽  
Carlos A. Jerez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is one of the main acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria involved in the bioleaching of metal sulfide ores. The bacterium-mineral interaction requires the development of biofilms, whose formation is regulated in many microorganisms by type AI-1 quorum sensing. Here, we report the existence and characterization of a functional type AI-1 quorum-sensing system in A. ferrooxidans. This microorganism produced mainly acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) with medium and large acyl chains and different C-3 substitutions, including 3-hydroxy-C8-AHL, 3-hydroxy-C10-AHL, C12-AHL, 3-oxo-C12-AHL, 3-hydroxy-C12-AHL, C14-AHL, 3-oxo-C14-AHL, 3-hydroxy-C14-AHL, and 3-hydroxy-C16-AHL. A quorum-sensing genetic locus that includes two open reading frames, afeI and afeR, which have opposite orientations and code for proteins with high levels of similarity to members of the acyl synthase (I) and transcriptional regulator (R) protein families, respectively, was identified. Overexpression of AfeI in Escherichia coli and the associated synthesis of AHLs confirmed that AfeI is an AHL synthase. As determined by reverse transcription-PCR, the afeI and afeR genes were transcribed in A. ferrooxidans. The transcription levels of the afeI gene were higher in cells grown in sulfur and thiosulfate media than in iron-grown cells. Phosphate starvation induced an increase in the transcription levels of afeI which correlated with an increase in AHL levels. Two afe boxes which could correspond to the AfeR binding sites were identified upstream of the afeI gene. This is the first report of a functional type AI-1 quorum-sensing system in an acidophilic chemolithotrophic microorganism, and our results provide a very interesting opportunity to explore the control and regulation of biofilm formation during the bioleaching process.


2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (14) ◽  
pp. 4421-4432 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Coutinho ◽  
B. Mitter ◽  
C. Talbi ◽  
A. Sessitsch ◽  
E. J. Bedmar ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 4678-4681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleftherios Mylonakis ◽  
Michael Engelbert ◽  
Xiang Qin ◽  
Costi D. Sifri ◽  
Barbara E. Murray ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We used a rabbit endophthalmitis model to explore the role of fsrB, a gene required for the function of the fsr quorum-sensing system of Enterococcus faecalis, in pathogenicity. A nonpolar deletion mutant of fsrB had significantly reduced virulence compared to wild type. Complementation of mutation restored virulence. These data corroborate the role of fsrB in E. faecalis pathogenesis and suggest that the rabbit endophthalmitis model can be used to study the in vivo role of quorum sensing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie M. Marketon ◽  
Sarah A. Glenn ◽  
Anatol Eberhard ◽  
Juan E. González

ABSTRACT Sinorhizobium meliloti is a soil bacterium capable of invading and establishing a symbiotic relationship with alfalfa plants. This invasion process requires the synthesis, by S. meliloti, of at least one of the two symbiotically important exopolysaccharides, succinoglycan and EPS II. We have previously shown that the sinRI locus of S. meliloti encodes a quorum-sensing system that plays a role in the symbiotic process. Here we show that the sinRI locus exerts one level of control through regulation of EPS II synthesis. Disruption of the autoinducer synthase gene, sinI, abolished EPS II production as well as the expression of several genes in the exp operon that are responsible for EPS II synthesis. This phenotype was complemented by the addition of acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) extracts from the wild-type strain but not from a sinI mutant, indicating that the sinRI-specified AHLs are required for exp gene expression. This was further confirmed by the observation that synthetic palmitoleyl homoserine lactone (C16:1-HL), one of the previously identified sinRI-specified AHLs, specifically restored exp gene expression. Most importantly, the absence of symbiotically active EPS II in a sinI mutant was confirmed in plant nodulation assays, emphasizing the role of quorum sensing in symbiosis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 3808-3812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina M. Talyzina ◽  
Pär K. Ingvarsson ◽  
Jun Zhu ◽  
Sun N. Wai ◽  
Agneta Andersson

ABSTRACT Two haplotypes of the Vibrio cholerae quorum-sensing system regulator hapR are described: hapR1, common among nonpandemic, non-O1, non-O139 strains, and hapR2, associated with pandemic O1 and O139 and epidemic O37 V. cholerae strains. The hapR2 has evolved under strong natural selection, implying that its fixation was influenced by conditions that led to cholera pandemics.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (10) ◽  
pp. 2702-2708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. McKnight ◽  
Barbara H. Iglewski ◽  
Everett C. Pesci

ABSTRACT The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses intercellular signals to control the density-dependent expression of many virulence factors. The las and rhlquorum-sensing systems function, respectively, through the autoinducersN-(3-oxododecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone andN-butyryl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL), which are known to positively regulate the transcription of the elastase-encoding gene, lasB. Recently, we reported that a second type of intercellular signal is involved in lasB induction. This signal was identified as 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone and designated thePseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS). PQS was determined to be part of the quorum-sensing hierarchy since its production and bioactivity depended on the las and rhlquorum-sensing systems, respectively. In order to define the role of PQS in the P. aeruginosa quorum-sensing cascade,lacZ gene fusions were used to determine the effect of PQS on the transcription of the quorum-sensing system geneslasR, lasI, rhlR, andrhlI. We found that in P. aeruginosa, PQS caused a major induction of rhlI′-lacZ and had lesser effects on the transcription of lasR′-lacZ andrhlR′-lacZ. We also observed that the transcription of bothrhlI′-lacZ and lasB′-lacZ was cooperatively effected by C4-HSL and PQS. Additionally, we present data indicating that PQS was not produced maximally until cultures reached the late stationary phase of growth. Taken together, our results imply that PQS acts as a link between the las and rhlquorum-sensing systems and that this signal is not involved in sensing cell density.


2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Wenbin ◽  
Z. Dejuan ◽  
L. Feifan ◽  
Y. Lei ◽  
C. Peng ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingming Zhao ◽  
Handong Jiang ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Jinxiang Wu ◽  
Jiping Zhao ◽  
...  

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